Earl Flormata - Corporate Taxes in Canada still top Global Average - The Purpose of Government

Today's article reminds me of a lesson taught to me by an investment banker in discussing their thoughts on government, and the duties of the people in the government.

He starts off with a question: What is the purpose of government? I look at him as though he's asking a loaded question and he smiles, "Ok, is it the purpose of a government to create jobs, yes or no?"

I answer back, "Yes to the jobs, however not the useless paper pushing red tape covered government kind."

"Close but not quite", was his reply.

The ideal purpose of a government is to make an ideal environment for businesses to thrive. In doing so, jobs are created elsewhere and at an exponentially faster rate, while spurring the economy by collecting more taxes due to the increase in workers and overall spending throughout the country. In lowering overall taxation and making things more efficient there is actually more money to go around.

The other example I can think of this is hitting the sweet spot on pricing for your products. 5 sales at 27.99 or 3 sales at 49.99 means requiring a lower conversion rate overall. It's not a matter of pleasing everyone, but more so a matter of being efficient for the greater good of the country.

What are your thoughts on the corporate side of the tax game?

Thanks for Reading,
Earl Flormata

Earl Flormata - Inspirational Quote - Be the Change

"Be the Change You Want to See in the World"
- Mahatma Gandhi

All too often we hear about things that we want to change, systems gone wrong, stuff that just doesn't sit right with us, however how many of us actually make a concentrated effort to get off the couch and make that change?

Although sometimes it feels as if we do our best - it's naught but a pebble in a stream, but it's the inspirational leaders that take the first step. Faced with adversity many people stare into the face of death only to turn pale and run. Sometimes the hurdles are just so tough that the thought of even beginning is frightening. It's always a bit of bravery mixed with passion, and perhaps just that little bit of "crazy" that gets the ball rolling.

So, what's the change in your life that needs to get made? What's the underlying reason for you to get up in the morning? What's your dream, what's your passion, but most importantly, what's your next step to achieve them? I challenge you to be the change, and take the necessary steps.

Thanks for reading,
Earl Flormata

Earl Flormata - Too Safe is a pain in the ass.

Sometimes I miss the traveling all over the world part of my business in the past prior to my son Erik being born. Sometimes I don't. Take a look at this link for the original article.

-=-

Photos taken in airplane leads to interrogation

By Catharine Hamm
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 09, 2008

Question: Last fall, three friends and I flew from Lisbon to Los Angeles by way of Philadelphia. On the flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, I was showing them my new camera and took a few pictures of our surroundings. A flight attendant came to me and told me to show her the pictures, which I did. On our arrival, armed officers escorted us off the plane, separated us and made us wait for the authorities. They asked ridiculous questions ("What's your eye color?"), and in the end they let us go with no apologies. Why would this happen? Did we do anything wrong?

-- Jose Silva, Lisbon

---

Discuss

Weigh in on the treatment Joe Silva received. Warranted or unnecessary?

---

Answer: In taking photos, Silva and his friends didn't violate any Federal Aviation Administration or Transportation Security Administration rules, their spokesmen told me.

If the use of electronic devices was permitted at that point in the flight, they were in the clear.

In fact, if you look at the photos you'll see that the only thing they apparently did wrong was to use a camera without studying the manual. Ansel Adams he's not.

In a later conversation, Silva said his group complied with flight attendants and wasn't causing a ruckus.

Because the airline would not go back and research the details, we don't have its side of the story.

But assuming that Silva is correct, what could prompt such a reaction?

He said the authorities later told him that these are "sensitive times."

Indeed. But those pictures are hardly a threat to national security and are no different from the images you can find all over the Internet.

Just to see the spectrum, Google "767 interior" and click "Images," and you'll find about six dozen photos.

Silva said the authorities also told him to be careful. One has to wonder how careful he would have needed to be if he didn't, in his words, look Moroccan or Egyptian.

Richard Derk, the photo editor for the Los Angeles Times Travel section, has shot many photos on airplanes, some of which have ended up in these pages.

I asked him whether he had experienced any problems on commercial flights.

"No, never," he said. "I shoot quickly and try not to get in anyone's way, but no one has ever stopped me."

Derk, we should note, does not look Middle Eastern.

Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Assn., also expressed surprise.

"It's hard to believe that somebody didn't call a timeout in the process and say, 'What exactly did this man do?' " Osterreicher said.

"At a certain point, somebody has to use some common sense."

Picture that.

Have a travel dilemma?

Write to travel@latimes.com

-=-


Honestly, at what point in time does it get a little too safe? Harmless pictures (even horrible pictures) that mean nothing on a plane. I'm glad the people didn't get arrested for having water bottles, or were even taken aback due to nail clippers. Seriously, if someone tried to threaten me with nail clippers, I'd be in more danger of laughing to death.

Sometimes people take it to an extreme level of safety when it comes to all things including investing. These are the same people that stand in line to buy the savings bonds and GIC's without prior thought to alternative solutions in which they could be more tax efficient, or perhaps say take into consideration the fact that it's not even keeping pace with inflation?

There's even an article out there that talks about how RRSP's could be detrimental to certain income levels of people - however people always want to do what is "comfortable" instead of what makes sense.

Be it a lack of education - or perhaps just plain ignorance, I hope to build Infiniti Point Strategies Inc. into the company that changes the education system for the better and start to show people about different options that exist as an alternative route. Join us on meetup.com to find out more about safety vs. comfort.

Thanks for reading,
Earl Flormata


P.S. Here's a great comedic skit on my take of the paranoia at the airports.
WARNING - gratuitous usage of course language in the video link.

Earl Flormata - No cash? No problem, if you barter

Simplicity is genius. Necessity is the mother of invention... and Barter is the answer to those in need without the cash backing to make ends meet.

An interesting turn of events with the current economic crisis is that with people not having any expendable funds left at the end of the month - they're turning to bartering as the solution to attain the goods or services that they need.

If you're wondering how the Infiniti Point group is using barter to our member's advantage - why not take a look at our Thursday night event? Join us on the meetup site to see when our next set of information nights are.

Average Canadians now have access to an interesting methodology on saving taxes with this 75 year old bartering system. Take a look and you might be surprised as to what you find out.

Thanks for Reading,
Earl Flormata

Earl Flormata - Cash Flow BC - Dan "The Man" Lok

Today at the Cash Flow BC event, the guest speaker was none other than Dan "the Man" Lok - internet marketing maven. From his title of best conversion expert to his newsletter to his ultimate lifestyle intensive site, he's got a plethora of information readily available for the average Joe to learn more about the secrets of internet marketing. Well as a courtesy for him being a guest speaker in my office space, here's a link to his blog. His mentorship program can be found at the following site. Another book that Dan had recommended was Scientific Advertising - a free e-book

His content was very dynamic and in-your-face with some very high level stats to prove his abilities. I'm looking forward to the release of his new book, and also our future joint venture projects.

Thanks for reading,
Earl Flormata

=======================================================
NOTES I TOOK DURING THE EVENT
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- It's not just HOW MUCH money you make, it's HOW you make the money.
- Build your business around your own lifestyle preference
- What does your perfect lifestyle look like?
- What do you want?
- What do you REALLY want?

- Here's what I want
- few employees
- high net profit
- low overhead
- retain control of my personal time
- money coming in while I sleep (you'll never hit financial freedom unless you...)
- work on exciting projects
- an opportunity to learn and grow
- FUN!

Term: Compulsive Empire Builder.

Suggestion: Set Daily Income Goals

I want a highly profitable and predictable business that allows me the freedom to do what I want, when I want to do it and with whom I want to do it with.

Success on the net lets you do what you want with your life!

If you don't want to you don't have to

Get up every morning and go to work in traffic
Answer to a boss that is unappreciative
Beg for a raise that you deserve
put of family vacations
mercy of job or business
worry about family
wish had more time to spend

Every business is a reflection of its owner.

-=-

3 lessons

Million Dollar Lesson #1
I developed the skill of spending money I didn't have on inforamtion I knew I needed.

#2
Your income can only grow to the extent that you do! Your Wealth can only grow as fast as you do!

#3
You must Earn th Right to be Rich.

All the qualities that are necessary for success and wealth are habits that must be developed and skills must be sharpened.


Rich people do what's hard - That's why their life is Easy. Poor people do what's easy, that's why their life is hard.

Jan 16th and 17th in Vancouver.
NOT in the seminar business (1 event per year)


Who was your mentor?
First mentor: Alan Jacks (marketing mentor)
Business mentor: Dan Pania (scotland - grew 0-400M in 8 years)

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END OF NOTES
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Earl Flormata - My Master Book List

People have been asking me for awhile to post up which books to read, etc - so as I'm tired of having to do this same thing over and over again, today's post is simply going to be me going through my pile of books in no particular order and slowly but surely converting the lot of them into a list, and eventually links to amazon so you can all purchase the same crazy list and know what I know.

For those of you who know me, I read about a book a week (give or take when I feel lazy, or when I feel like reading). Funny how I never did this during school, but now that I'm on a quest for knowledge and how to make other people succeed around me, I've been rampaging through tons of books as of late. Viktor Lasmarias, wherever you are - thanks for that CD that was like coles notes on steroids... seriously - a life saver when you had as many crazy honours courses as we did back in the good ol' days of Alpha Secondary.

Also - for those that are too lazy for Earl's crazy reading pace - take a look at Rapid Reader (just google it for now - too lazy for hyperlinking). I can't remember exactly when my dad forced me to read my first speed reading book, butnow I'm eternally grateful since that seems to be where I spend a lot of my time these days.

P.S. No, I don't lend out books - just buy the damn things and start building your library. What I would love though would be a wonderful book scanning service if anyone knew of any. That way I can back up my collection against floods and damage, etc.

Anyhoo, here goes nothing...

Thanks for reading,
Earl Flormata
-=-

Breakthrough Rapid Reading
What got you here won't get you there
All the money in the world
Good to Great
Selling Blue Elephants
The Speed of Trust
Stock Investing for Dummies
Trading for Dummies
Hedge Funds for Dummies
Reading Financial Reports for Dummies
Investing for Canadians for Dummies
Stock investing for Canadians for Dummies
Personal Finance for Canadians
The 8th Habit
Execution (Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan)
The Taxman is watching
The ABC's of writing winning business plans
Own your own corporation
SalesDogs
How to Buy & Sell a Business
OPM - Other People's Money
Protecting Your #1 Asset
Cashflow Quadrant
The ABC's of Building a Business Team That Wins
Rich Kid Smart Kid
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Before you Quit Your Job
Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens
Retire Young Retire Rich
Who Took My Money?
Profitable Growth is Everyone's Business
The Memory Book
Napoleon Hill's Keys to Success. The 17 Principles of Personal Achieveent
Smart Couples Finish Rich
Start Late, Finish Rich
Made to Stick
Automatic Millionaire Homeowner
Automatic Millionaire
Small Giants
What the CEO Wants you to Know
Social Intelligence
The Pursuit of Happyness
Banker to the Poor
Emotional Intelligence
The Back of the Napkin
Escaping the Middle Class
The Heart of Presenting
Putting out the Fire of Fear
Blue Ocean Strategy
Invincible Investor
Fit for Love
Arnis - Reflections on the History and Development of the Filipino Martial Arts
Why we want you to be Rich
The 48 Laws of Power
The Art of the Start
Making Millions in Direct Sales
Palm Reading for Beginners
The Art of Peace
How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
The Quick & Easy way to Effective Speaking
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Greatest Salesman in the World
The Greatest Salesman in the World Part II
the Da Vinci Code
The E Myth Revisited
The Book of Chuang Tzu
Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching
The God Delusion
Customer Satisfaction is Worthless. Customer Loyalty is Priceless. How to make customers love you, keep them coming back and tell everyone they know.
The Patterson Principles of Selling
First Break all the Rules
Now Discover your Strengths
The Ten Faces of Innovation
The Business of Software
The Closers
The Closers Part 2
Work the Pond
Beat the Taxman - Easy Ways to Save Tax in your Small Business
101 Tax secrets for Canadians
97 Tips for Canadian Real Estate investors
The millionaire mind
Built to last
How to talk to anyone
How to do the impossible
Awaken the Giant Within
Unlimited Power
The Sales Bible
Smoke and Mirrors - Financial Myths that will Ruin your retirement dreams
The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management. How to successfully launch and operate a hedge fund
Hedgehogging
The Wolf of Wall Street
Tao of Jeet Kune Do
The Sword of No-Sword
The Innovator's Solution
Secrets of Power Persuasion fo Salespeople
Tricks of the Floor Trader
Building Wealth
Guerrilla Marketing in 30 days
The New Market Wizards
Throwing the Elephant
Making it Happen
Take Control of your Financial Destiny
Health Wealth and Happiness
The Wealthy Barber
The 10 Secrets Revenue Canada doesn't want you to know
Napoleon Hill - Think and Grow Rich
The Richest Man in Babylon
The Paradox of Choice - Why more is less
Doing What Matters
The Tipping Point
Blink
The Game
Rules of the Game
On Becoming Fearless
Sneaky Uses for Everyday things
Sneakier Uses for Everyday things
The Greatest Networker in the World
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Aging Smart
Catch me if you can
1001 Ways to Reward Employees
The Book on Business PLanning
The Frog and Prince
The Little Red book of Selling
The Little Red book of Sales Answers
Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Whale Done
Gung Ho!
Raving Fans
Who Moved My Cheese?
nightwork
The Business of Changing the World
On the Door
The World is flat
Stumbling on Happiness
Snakes in Suits
Letting Go of your Bananas
E Myth Mastery
Know-How
A Collection of the best business quotes
How to get to the top
Litle Green book of Getting your Way
Getting Things Done
Freakonomics
The worst case scenario survival handbook: Travel
Make your life a masterpiece: Peter Legge
The Black Swan

Earl Flormata - Regulators Clamp down on Freedom

Although I'm not a member of the FIC - I still keep watch over them as Darren Weeks and Fast Track to Cash Flow have Michael Lathigee as a contributor to their newsletter of which I'm a member of.

It appears as though the regulators are keeping a sharp eye on the Freedom investment club as the links suggest. Their foreclosure system and their other investment opportunities seem to have caught the unwanted attention of the enforcers around these parts.

Although the game really isn't over until it's over - I'm keeping a close eye as I was actually looking into some similar deal flow scenarios to invest my own personal dollars into, so I'm curious to see how things add up in the end. I wish luck to all who have invested thus far, and naturally hope for the best as we prepare for the upcoming scrutiny. It goes to show that you never really can tell which investments will do well except for watching how the trends play themselves out backwards. Kinda makes you wish for one of these doesn't it? (see above picture)

Thanks for reading,
Earl Flormata

Earl Flormata - Feeling Lucky? Born to be a Millionaire

Once a mentor of mine asked me whether I would rather be lucky or smart. I answered him - why not have both? But if I had to choose one over the other, luck is something that cannot be bought, whereas the expertise of many smart people is on sale every day as job postings as job postings are numerous. I still believe in the idea that luck favours the brave.

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.

- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

This brought to my attention one of the tests that I ask people who seek to reach their financial freedom. I'm sure you've all heard of the home lottery programs that exist - where you can win a dream home (usually in the middle of nowhere), or you have the option of taking the cash. It's time to test that luck vs. smarts ratio in the manner of which path do you choose? Do you take the cash, or the house? With luck already on your side, the only choice left is the wise one. To have your cake and eat it too, one would find it wise to choose the asset - the house. From an investment side, people naturally want to take the money however choosing the house allows for both. Simply mortgage the house, rent it out and now you have both a cash flowing asset and sufficient capital to invest or spend as you choose - alongside a tax deduction on the interest spent on borrowing from the house. Now you have 3 "prizes" in lieu of one.

The last piece I have on luck is a personal one. My son Erik was born on June 16th, 5:47PM in 2008 at a weight of 7lbs 14 ounces. Maybe the luck gene has been passed down, for if you check out the winning lotto numbers the draw after his birth, 6, 7, 14, 16, 17, 27... 6 and 16 for the date, 7 and 14 for his weight and 17, 47 for the time. He was one number away from being born a millionaire. A little more luck wouldn't hurt, but here's to hoping he gets the best of both worlds when his time comes.


Thanks for Reading,
Earl Flormata

Chris Kennedy - Book Report: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

I Should Be Mad As Hell At You, Robert!

Over $10,000 and one entire year of my life later, I still haven’t bought a single property with “no money down.” By right I should be mad as hell at Robert Allen for selling me (and others) a pipe dream. But ultimately, whose responsibility is it that I didn't become a model success story. So, instead, I put my concentration towards the eerie, hollow sound the wind makes when it blows through my empty wallet. After all, I take responsibility for failing to make Robert’s no money down technique work for me.

For those who don’t know Robert Allen, he's Canadian born but a real estate guru in the states whose claim to fame came from a simple dare: "Send me to any city in the United States. Take away my wallet. Give me $100 for living expenses. And in 72 hours I will buy an excellent piece of real estate using none of my own money."

Robert got media clout when The LA Times took up his bold challenge and sent him to San Francisco, to prove himself with a reporter in tow to document his every deal. 57 hours later Robert had 7 properties in his portfolio worth $772,000. Can you say instant fame, instant publishing deals and a soap box from which to shout at people like me – “you too can do it, pay here, and here, and here!”

The only reason to mention Robert A really is that while attending one of his seminars in 2007, someone dropped the name Robert Kiyosaki on me. Had I been angry or feeling sorry for my situation at the time I wouldn’t have wanted to hear anything about real estate experts and I wouldn't have taken any action to buy another book.

So, still wide-eyed and eager to learn and obviously open to further humiliation, I picked up a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad for $25 and started reading. Robert’s writing style struck me as exceptionally pedestrian, very atypical of a book on finance and business. Concepts are intertwined with real-life stories that made the message easy to digest and apply to my own experiences, or lack of same. Usually, I like being challenged by an author but not so much when it comes to learning a subject I know little about. In this case simple was better. The poignant messages really hit home in the simple, honest and non insulting storytelling style. I read the entire book with a highlighter in one hand and a notebook and a pen next to me for instantly notes. Those notes came from almost every page as I read.

I was hearing things I had never heard before. They challenged conventions I thought were unshakable and exposed my lack of knowledge or in layman terms, ignorance. This was an alien philosophy but I wasn’t afraid of approaching and learning. I wanted to learn how to reach my own place of personal wealth. Ironic that I picked up nothing about buying real estate - even thought Robert Kiyosaki is himself a guru on the subject. What I got was far more powerful, Robert Kiyosaki didn’t dangle fish in front of me with bravado publicity stunts; instead, he was showing me the art of being the fisherman through simple examples of how he learned to fish. I’ve adopted his philosophy and I keep his words close as reminders and as inspiration. Here are just a few Kiyosaki-isms from Rich Dad Poor Dad.

• Fear and Desire: the Rat Race trap!


• A job is really a short-term solution to a long-term problem


• Broke is temporary, poor is eternal


• Don’t work for money, make money work for you


• Human life is a struggle between ignorance and illumination – once we stop searching for information and knowledge about ourselves, ignorance sets in. The struggle is moment to moment


• Learn to use your emotions to think, not think with your emotions


• Know the difference between an asset and a liability and buy assets


• To become financially secure, a person needs to mind their own business


• In the real world it’s often not the smart that get ahead but the bold


• Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn


• People who avoid failure also avoid success


• You are only one skill away from great wealth


• When it comes to making money the only work skill most people know is hard work


• For winners, losing inspires them. For losers, losing defeats them


• Don’t listen to poor or frightened people


• Be generous with what you have and the powers that be wil be generous to you


• Don’t take yourself so seriously

What I have learned from all of this is that the wind won’t be making that eerie, hollow sound as it blows into my wallet much longer because my wallet will be full of cash. Rich Dad Poor Dad was only an introduction to my education and to what is possible. I continue to learn from Robert Kiyosaki’s writings and from like minded people who play his Cashflow game.


Chris Kennedy